The Pittsburgh Pirates announced the addition of Kevin Correia yesterday around 5:00 PM, which was supposed to come with a corresponding move where the Pirates would remove someone from the 40-man roster, creating space for Correia. However, we learned yesterday that the Pirates have until Monday to make such a decision, as that is when the move becomes MLB official (presumably due to MLB office hours).
We knew Correia had agreed to a deal for about a week, but the timing of the announcement was very interesting. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Pirates waited until 5:00 PM on a Friday to make the deal official. This gives them two extra days to make a decision on who they will remove from the 40-man roster. Those extra days seem unnecessary when you consider that:
-The Pirates knew since the winter meetings that they would need to clear a roster spot, since they agreed to deals with Scott Olsen, Kevin Correia, Matt Diaz, and Lyle Overbay, while adding Josh Rodriguez as a Rule 5 selection, with only four roster spots available.
-Nothing can happen in the off-season to really change the value of a player, so the extra two days (on top of the week they’ve already had) won’t shed any more light on a potential decision.
If the Pirates were just going to designate a player for assignment, they could have done that on Friday. They had a week to make a decision on who they would remove from the roster, and the two extra days won’t help that decision making process. The timing of the move is interesting, because it could mean that the Pirates will use those extra days to trade someone, perhaps Ryan Doumit.
After the signing of Overbay, we learned that the Pirates were stepping up their efforts to trade Doumit, not that they weren’t trying to trade him prior to the addition of Overbay. The delay in signing Correia, which resulted in two additional days to clear a 40-man roster spot, could give the Pirates two extra days to clear a roster spot with a trade of Doumit.
The extra days don’t guarantee that the Pirates will make a trade this weekend. However, if they were just going to designate someone for assignment, they could have done that earlier in the day on Friday. The fact that they waited until late Friday to make Correia official, thus giving them those extra days, suggests that they might use those days to make a trade, rather than just removing someone from the roster.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
I am really hoping we get rid of Doumit. I am all for picking up a few million dollars of the payroll to get a better return. If the Yankees want Martin, who has similar numbers to Doumit, we should be able to get something descent in return.
On another note, could this possible be the potential for a Maholm trade as well? I know Doumit seems more likely, but I also know the Pirates are more than likely open to, if not actively pursuing, a Maholm trade.